1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a network breeding game, in which a player breeds a character in a system configured of a server apparatus, and a terminal apparatus connected to and disconnected from the relevant server apparatus via a network.
2. Related Art
A breeding game in which a character bred as a hypothetical pet (hereafter, a breeding character) is bred, being a game which can be played regardless of an age of a player, is widely known as one field of computer games. In the breeding game, in order that the player can give care at an optional timing, and breed the breeding character meticulously, it is often the case that a portable type game machine, game dedicated or used in conjunction with another application, is used as a platform to execute this (for example, refer to Japanese Patent No. 2,848,219).
In a first appearing breeding game, regardless of whether the portable type game machine has been made the platform, or a pre-installed type game machine has been made the platform, the breeding character has been bred in a hypothetical space enclosed within the relevant game machine. For this reason, even in a case of players playing the same breeding game, it has been difficult for interaction between the players to arise.
With respect to this, in recent years, the breeding game has come to be executed on a network in which a plurality of players implement the game in an identical game space. In the case in which the breeding game is executed in a network game, although it is possible for the players to breed their respective breeding characters while interacting, it is a problem for each player to be able to breed a breeding character in such a way as to make it different from the breeding characters of the other players.
However, in a large number of network games, in order to prevent a participation of an illicit player, when a player participating in a game logs in, that is, when a terminal apparatus of the relevant player is connected to a server apparatus, a user authentication is carried out on the player. Consequently, as a troublesome procedure such as the user authentication is necessary when the player actually plays in the game (even in the event that the user authentication is not necessary, a connection procedure itself is troublesome), even in a case of a player who is registered as a participant, a time for which he or she continues a condition of not playing the game inevitably becomes long.
In a case in which the breeding game has been applied in the network game to date, there having been a tendency for the time for which the condition of the player not playing the game continues to become long, as breeding has not been carried out by the player during this time, it goes without saying that the breeding character has not grown. For this reason, the breeding character not having grown at all, despite time having also elapsed while not playing the network game, has given the player a feeling of unnaturalness. In particular, in a case in which the player can also see a breeding character which another player is breeding in the game, a fact that while he or she is playing frequently and causing his or her character to grow, the breeding character of the other player has not grown at all, has been extremely unnatural.
With respect to this, it is also possible, even while the player is not playing the network game, to cause the breeding character to grow in accordance with a time elapsing from a start of its breeding. However, in this kind of case, it being difficult for the player to appreciate that he or she is breeding the breeding character in the game, it has been difficult to maintain an interest of the player in breeding the breeding character.